Nick Of Time
by klutzysunshine
Summary: Set post "Moriah". Jack is resurrected just in time to finish off the last of the zombies attacking Sam, Dean, and Cas. None of them are okay in the aftermath of Chuck's attack.


Jack woke up choking and he couldn't stop touching his eyes to make sure they were still there while lingering pain flooded his body. His talk with Billie had been enlightening but now he had a family to save. Gingerly standing up, he followed the zombies (which were awesome, but he couldn't freak out about them now) and immediately spotted Sam and Dean. Taking out several of them, he raced to their sides.

The three of them stared at him in shock. "What the fuck?" Dean asked, breaking the silence after stabbing yet another zombie.

He shrugged. "Billie sent me back - said you needed me." He wasn't allowed to tell them the full plan yet and felt guilty about it (he felt guilty about a lot of things now that his soul was restored) but Death knew what she was doing so he wasn't about to question her.

Cas nearly sagged in relief but Dean grabbed him to keep him upright. "Remind me to thank her next time we her - provided one of us hasn't died again."

"Sammy, you doing okay?" Dean asked, checking in on his brother yet again.

Sam nodded, although he had paled. "I'm fine."

"Let me take care of the remaining zombies and then I'll heal you. If you'll let me." Jack wasn't sure where they stood now so he'd respect Sam's rejection if it came to that.

"That sounds good." Sam smiled at him but Jack could tell it took a lot of effort.

Turning around, he blasted them all into oblivion within a matter of seconds - there hadn't been that many left but the zombies had clearly overwhelmed the three of them. Cas was shaking so hard it was freaking them all out but they ignored it for the time being as Jack healed Sam. "We should get back to the car."

"There's probably more of those fucking things out there," Dean murmured as he and Sam helped Cas to the Impala. Jack sat next to him as Dean started up the car and they made their way back to the bunker.

The guilt seeped through every inch of Jack's body and he cringed when he remembered how he escaped just hours earlier. So when they sat down at the table in the war room, he made sure he was far away from Sam and Dean. Sam looked at him quizzically. "Jack, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Dying and resurrecting again took a lot out of me." That was partially the truth but he knew he needed to be honest. It was just that working up to it was absolutely terrifying.

"Cas, you're still shaking," a worried Dean said as he watched Jack out of the corner of his eye. The kid looked ready to flee again, and he didn't blame him.

"Just need to relax and I'll be fine." Cas wrapped his arms around himself as the horrors of the day finally caught up to him. He supposed he might be in shock.

"You want to go lie down in bed?" Ready to help him out, Sam stood up and almost regretted it as a wave of exhaustion hit him. He sat back down.

Jack couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sorry!" he yelled.

The three of them turned to stare at their son. Cas still wasn't all there but he was aware enough to see that Jack was visibly upset. "We can talk about this later," Dean tried, noting that neither Sam nor Cas seemed to be up for a serious conversation.

Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry," he repeated, his voice breaking. "It was an accident but that was no excuse. I loved Mary and I am so, so sorry. I wish I could have brought her back or hadn't killed her in the first place. I understand if you never forgive me or want to see me again but I had to tell you. I'll never be able atone for my actions, and I take full responsibility for the fact that nothing will be the same again between us." Although Dean hadn't killed him (something which still confused him, to be honest), that didn't make everything magically okay again.

Since Sam and Cas were still shell-shocked, Dean took charge once again. "Jack, I can't say I forgive you - not sure I'll ever be able to - but you're not the first one in this family to fuck up. And I've been running off anger for days, fucking up in the process myself. I know you're sorry, I know you'd do anything to change what happened, and that's enough for now. You good with that?" Dean couldn't believe he had managed to get all of that out, especially with the shitstorm outside the bunker walls and the one brewing inside.

Jack nodded. "I'm good with that," he said, his voice small. He wanted to go curl up in a ball in his room and cry but he could do that later.

"Dean?" That came from Cas, now standing and swaying on his feet.

"Yeah, Cas?"

"Something's not right." He couldn't figure out what, though, and it was like he was seeing everything through a tunnel.

Dean, Sam, and Jack all eyed him in concern. Dean forced him to sit down again while Sam gasped. "What if it wasn't just Hell?"

"What?" asked Dean.

"Chuck released souls from Hell but what if it wasn't just Hell? What if Heaven finally fell? What if shit in the Empty's been let loose too?" They all stared at each other in horror, speechless, unable to find words for this clusterfuck. They hadn't considered that possibility but none of them would put anything past Chuck.

Nothing was out of the realm of possibility at this point, especially since it was still dark outside in the middle of the day. The rules had been broken, which meant anything goes.

The four of them needed some rest to recover from the shock of the day but they couldn't do so for very long. They had work to do.


End file.
